sent from: O’Brien, Oregon, USA. destination: Jersey City, NJ, USA

“How long has it been?”, asked the woman with the dark leathery skin floating in the pool, speaking to us with her heavy french accent.
“A year and a half”, answered Maria.
“Ahhhhh, good good. You look like it has been only 24 hours, your marriage.”
We were all floating in one of the four mineral pools in Calistoga. We were moving between the hot jacuzzi, the warm soaking tub, and the slightly cooler lap pool. The water was a deep blue, clear, and we were one of few guests. The sun was shining clear down on us and the Calistoga hills were a rich green fringe surrounding us. The previous weekend’s storm had kept away the usual guests and the french woman revelled in the clean, warm waters. “I will return here 3-4 times a week, while my husband, silly Englishman, works 24 hours.”
We only had an hour or two there, but we revelled in every second of it.